Being and Belonging
by ttchaku
Summary: When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents’ murder, he doesn’t go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? “Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?”
1. Kidnapped

**Being and Belonging**

**Kidnapped**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

**L**eaving the echoes of his parents' dying screams behind in his old house, Itachi stalked noiselessly through the night, smoky shadows molding and clinging to him in both the figurative and literal sense. He jumped, as silently as a cat, onto a nearby roof and hopped to the next one in a single leap, landing in a crouch, his red eyes gleaming dimly in the faint, wavering moonlight.

The village of Konoha was deserted at this time of night. The shops were empty, the streets deserted. Even the stray shinobi, patrolling or perhaps just returning from a mission, wouldn't be seen- not at this time of time. Of course, light would soon come, creeping stealthily around corners, slinking slyly up doors, filtering through besotted windows…perhaps, dawn would come even quicker today, heralded by the screaming of his younger brother as he woke from the genjutsu.

Itachi hopped down onto the metal grill of a particular apartment and carefully slipped through the cracked window, left open as a relief from the balmy night. Slowly, he pushed aside the coarse curtains, billowing through them like a vengeful wraith. Face twisting in disgust, Itachi warily stepped over several empty ramen cups and avoided all the dirty clothing draped carelessly over dark lumps of furniture and tossed next to the laundry bin as if someone had been too lazy to throw the clothes in properly.

Itachi strode through the kitchen, his footsteps not even a whisper in the dead weight of the apartment. He ignored the kitchen, with its peeling wallpaper and water-stained sink overflowing with dirty dishes and entered the side of the apartment obviously deemed the "bedroom". Lying on a lopsided, wrinkled futon was a small boy around Sasuke's age. He was entangled in light sheets so that only his solemn, whisker marked face and a tuft of spiky blonde hair, highlighted silver by the beams of moonlight, could be seen.

Silently, Itachi regarded the little boy sleeping innocently in his bed. What he was about to do was atrocious, horrible, unthinkable. It would mean changing a small child's life forever and it would mean taking him away from everything that he knew. It would mean putting the life a very young boy in grave danger for many, many years.

But…Itachi still had the dark red blood of his parents on his clothes and the horrified, rasping screams of his younger brother in his ears. He had already committed patricide- the lowest, most heinous, of all crimes. How much further could he sink?

Moving quickly, Itachi scooped up the little boy, sheets and all, and ran.

He didn't stop, not even bothering to look back at the place he had called home for so many years as he sped away, not daring to jostle the bundle in his arms. He ran until the gray sun was just beginning to peek over the faraway mountaintops, shining subdued light over the land. Here, he was far away from even the outer reaches of Konoha. He wouldn't be safe, though, not until he had left Fire Country completely. Not until he had reached those mountains in the distance.

For now though, he and the boy would be protected for at least another hour. An hour of sunlight before the running bean once again. The hunter nin wouldn't start looking until Sasuke had recovered his wits enough to tell the third hokage who had killed his entire clan in one night. Then they would have to order the strike team. All of this would take time, time Itachi was willing to spare.

Slowly Itachi laid the small child on the soft green grass, examining his surroundings. He was in a forest, standing in a oblong clove created by the encircling trees and bushes. The air was sweet with the scent of grass and animals; no human scents could be felt on the wind except for his own and of course the boy's which smelled distinctly foxy anyway.

Satisfied, Itachi turned back towards the boy on the ground and gently shook him awake. "Naruto," he whispered, "Naruto, wake up."

Yawning, Naruto stretched and blurrily opened his bright cerulean eyes in confusion. He was disorientated by the sudden change in scenery as well as the unknown person standing before him. "Who…who are you?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm a friend. My name is Itachi." Itachi answered, spinning his web carefully. Naruto had to believe him; had to trust no one except him. "You were in danger at your home, so I took you from there to save your life."

Naruto's impossibly blue eyes widened farther. "Why would someone want to hurt me?" he whimpered.

"There are bad people out there, Naruto." Itachi answered evasively, "I want to help you."

Naruto shifted suspiciously in his blankets. Adults had never wanted to help _him_ before. "When can I go home?" he questioned brashly.

"You can't." Itachi stated firmly, hoping to end the conversation now. "It's too dangerous for you to return home any time soon. You'll have to stay with me."

Naruto sniffed suddenly, loudly. "I…can't- I can't go home?" Unshed tears filled his blue eyes, and slowly dripped down his face, flowing in rivulets down his whiskered cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Itachi demanded harshly, "Are you not a shinobi? Shinobi don't cry."

Naruto stiffened. "I am so shinobi!" he yelled, tears forgotten. "I'm going to be Hokage and you're not going to stop me!"

"Right," Itachi said easily, "I'm going to help you." Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief. No one had ever taken that statement as anything other than a falsehood. "I'll train you, better training than you'll receive at the Academy, and you'll become a good fighter…at least, if you want to be."

"Yes!" Naruto yelled, his trademark wide smile, spreading on his face. "I wanna be good, the best." His voice lowered confidentially. "I want to show them all."

Inwardly, Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn't half as hard as he thought it would be. "You will." he promised. Then he stood up, searching the sky. The hunter nin were approaching. They had gotten together a team even faster than he had expected. Idly he wondered who was on it. Kakashi? Would he come for Yondaima's legacy to pay tribute to his fallen mentor? Or maybe-

Itachi shook himself mentally from his thoughts and held out his hand towards Naruto. "We have to leave." he stated calmly. "The assassins are getting closer and I might not be able to protect you from ten or eleven of them."

Biting his lip, Naruto's face lost its easy smile as he contemplated the hand in front of him. Itachi quivered with tension internally, strung as tight as one of his trip wires; if Naruto didn't come by will, then he'd have to take the boy by force and it would take Naruto a long time to learn to trust him again. Naruto, he had noticed, trusted implicitly without reason, but once that trust was foiled, he would never truly trust that person again.

"Okay." Naruto said decisively, deciding his entire future in a minute with the air of a child who really has no idea what they're saying yes to. Naruto grasped Itachi's hand in one of his small tanned ones, and gasped as Itachi abruptly pulled him up, the white sheets falling from him, leaving him in a brown shirt and blue shorts.

"It's time to leave." Itachi scooped Naruto up in one move and held him tightly against his shoulder as he began to run, picking up speed. Wind whipped against the pair, and Itachi saw Naruto lay his head against his shoulder and close his eyes tightly. Grimly, Itachi sped up.

"Itachi ni-san," Naruto called, the words being ripped out of his mouth as he said them. "Itachi ni-san, ano sa…ano sa…where are we going?"

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	2. Sharkface

**Being and Belonging**

**Shark-face**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

"**I**tachi ni-san, are we there yet?" Naruto asked yet again.

This time Itachi let a sliver of frustration flit across his stoic face. What an irritating boy, absolutely nothing like Sasuke. Loud when he was quiet; hyper when he was calm; annoying when he agreeable. It was-

"Itachi ni-san!" Naruto whined.

Itachi finally stopped, jerking Naruto to a stop beside him. "What is it, Naruto?" Itachi asked, a hint of anger entering his calm voice.

"I…I smell something weird." Naruto murmured, hitting up dust with his feet.

"Stop that." Itachi said automatically, "You're worsening fighting conditions. Where is the smell coming from?"

Naruto sucked in a lip. "I dunno."

"What. do. you. mean. you. don't. know?" Itachi asked patiently. He couldn't smell anything except themselves on the air, but kitsunes were known for their sharp senses. Naruto's hearing, at least, would be better than his, even untrained.

Naruto sniffed the air experimentally and thought it through slowly. "I don't know." he annunciated as if Itachi was the slow one, "It feels like it's all around us." Naruto spread his arms wide at the last statement.

"Hnn…" Itachi pulled Naruto closer to his side and took out two kunai, handing the smaller one to Naruto. "Do you know how to use this?" he asked.

"Of course!" Naruto yipped, "I'm the best in my class, much better than stupid Sasuke."

Itachi frowned at the mention of his brother's name. "Good, because you're going to have to use it in a couple of minutes."

"What?" Naruto's childish face creased in confusion. "Why do I need to use it?" He held the kunai with familiarity, but it dangled off his hand like a limp noodle.

Itachi sighed, taking the kunai away from Naruto. "The way you grip your kunai means everything. Hold out your hand as if you were about to shake hands with me." Naruto complied, holding out his hand obediently, but instead of shaking his hand, Itachi put the kunai in his hand, wrapping his fingers around it. "This way you can throw it with a flick of your wrist or you can engage someone in hand-to-hand combat without changing your grip."

"But, Iruka-sensei told me to put the kunai between my index and middle finger when I'm throwing it." Naruto argued, looking suspiciously at his new grip.

"Yes, that does give you better accuracy, but are you fast enough to switch your grip from throwing to close combat?"

Naruto tried, his small fingers flicking around the kunai to try and rearrange themselves. Instead, he fumbled the kunai and dropped it to the ground with a dull thud. "Oops." Naruto said, frowning.

"Stay with what I taught you for now…" Itachi thought for a second. "And tonight, practice switching your fingers on that kunai for fifteen minutes. Do that every night until you can apply it in fighting situations."

"But this kunai is yours, Itachi ni-chan." Naruto protested.

"Not anymore. Now it's yours." Itachi answered, eyes snapping up to scan the horizon. Someone was coming.

"Really! Thanks-"

Suddenly two kunai sped towards them and Itachi scooped Naruto up, jumping into the foliage of a nearby tree. "Stay here," he hissed, not trusting Naruto to understand sign language, "Don't move."

Timing his jump, Itachi leapt from the tree, kunai in hand, just as their unknown assailant walked into the clearing. Itachi threw his first kunai at the attacker's back and landed a few feet away, another kunai at ready. The attacker deflected the kunai with ease, sending it pinging into a nearby tree- thankfully nowhere near Naruto, Itachi noted.

"So you are the famous Uchiha Itachi." he said.

Itachi didn't allow even a flicker of the disgust he felt for the man show in his face, even though the man truly was a monstrosity. He had a shark-like face with cold beady eyes and cruel smile. Over one shoulder was a huge sword wrapped in bandages and his hitai was two wavy lines with a slash through both of them. A missing nin then.

"Yes," Itachi allowed his onyx eyes to melt into infamous red. "And who are you?"

"I am Kisame formerly of Mist." he smiled, showing shark teeth.

"And what do you want? Itachi asked pleasantly enough, even though he and Kisame had started to circle each other warily.

"Drop your supplies and whatever other goods you have and I'll let you live."

Itachi smirked. "Reduced to scrapping leftovers to eat? A great former Mist nin like yourself? Wait until the news gets out that one of the seven legendary swordsmen has been reduced to banditry."

Kisame snarled and launched forward. Itachi parried his kunai to the throat and with a quick thrust hit Kisame twice in the ribs, cracking three and once in the stomach. Then he plunged his kunai into Kisame's shoulder, ripping flesh and tendons.

Kisame's screamed in pain and rage and tore forward, bellowing like a bull. He lifted his sword off the ground and swung it in an underhanded arc. Itachi blocked the swing with his arm, infusing chakra into it to make the sword shatter. Instead, he felt himself losing chakra steadily and wrenched away from the sword.

Kisame smirked and took another swing with his sword. "My Samehada will destroy you!" he yelled, swinging the sword again, this time dangerously near Itachi.

Itachi quickly took out another kunai and threw it at Kisame's face as a distraction as he prepared a huge fireball. The fireball blasted into him as the kunai was deflected into another tree. A second later Naruto came tumbling out of it and Itachi felt a stab of fear. He swiftly ran towards a falling Naruto and caught him just before he hit the ground. Hurriedly, he felt Naruto for injuries, but the young boy was grinning wildly.

"I deflected it, Itachi ni-chan! I did it!" he shouted happily, "I-"

"Shut up." Itachi interrupted harshly, looking behind him. "We have to go."

"Go?" Naruto asked, chancing a glance at Kisame.

"Now," Itachi pressed, "Those men are coming."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh no! We have to go, come on." He yanked Itachi's hand towards a prone Kisame. "We have to get him too! We can't leave him for those guys."

"He's a ninja." Itachi snapped, the closeness of the hunter nin agitating him. "He can take care of himself."

"No, that…isn't nice! Not nice at all!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his head. "We've got to help him. Please!"

"No." Itachi said shortly.

"You're not nice then." Naruto said stubbornly, "and I won't go with you."

"Fine then!" Itachi hissed, completely fed up. "Then stay here and get yourself killed." he snapped, taking off and leaving Naruto behind.

He had traveled two miles before he turned back and sped towards them. Naruto was helping a limping Kisame hobble along side of the road. It was pathetic really, but Itachi bottled up his exasperation and picking Naruto up by his collar and throwing Kisame over his shoulder, he ran, hoping that on the off chance, the hunter nin were having an bad day.

* * *

It was nighttime when they finally stopped, Itachi even chancing a small fire to light up Naruto's glowing face as he pranced around it, studiously practicing switching fingers with a kunai. He kept shooting Itachi deliriously happy looks as if he had been justified in thinking that Itachi was a good guy all along.

Itachi diligently ignored the pleased, self-satisfied grins. He wasn't a good person. A child shouldn't put their trust in him, not when he had killed both of his parents and ruined his younger brother's life. Just trusting him would sully Naruto's carefree existence, but Itachi couldn't tell him that- he didn't dare. That would ruin everything.

"Hey…" Itachi looked over at Kisame, the third member of their camp. He had just woken and even now Itachi could tell he was in pain; he would hide it, but he was hurting.

"You're awake." Itachi stated dispassionately, poking the fire with a stick and sending Naruto dancing away from Kisame as sparks flew towards him.

"You…" Kisame licked his dry lips, "You didn't have to do that."

"Sure we did!" Naruto chirped, going around the other side of Kisame and giving him a cup of _their_ precious water while subtly sticking his tongue out at Itachi. "We like you, and we wouldn't have left you to the bad people." he added seriously.

"Bad people?" Kisame croaked confusedly, "Kid, let me tell you something." Naruto leaned closer as if receiving a secret from the Hokage himself. "We are-"

"Hey! Ow!" Naruto shrieked as Itachi sent another burst of sparks flying towards them with the stick. This time embers fell in Naruto's hair and exposed skin. "Itachi ni-chan!" he yelled angrily.

"Go over there," he ordered, pointing to the far side of the small camp "and finish practicing. It's late; you have to go to bed."

"But-"

"Tomorrow I'll give you something else to practice as well. Some chakra control exercises, perhaps." Itachi added.

Naruto sighed in resignation, only slightly cheered up by the prospect of learning another ninja technique. "Kay, night Itachi ni-chan, night Kisame-san."

Grinning, Kisame brushed off the fading embers from Naruto's clothes and pushed him gently towards the other side of the campfire. When he was a suitable distance away, Kisame turned serious. "So what happens now? Shall we leave when the kid falls asleep and then you can tell him that I had an accident when I don't show up in the morning?"

Itachi stiffened. "That was not my plan. In fact, I have a proposal for you. You're a strong fighter and sometimes Naruto is…a bit much to handle. Help me train him."

"Train him?"

"Yes. You are a master swordsman, are you not?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, but…look, he's a great kid, and I owe him for saving my live, but there doesn't seem to be anything too special about-"

"He's the kyubi vessel." Itachi stated.

"That little slip of flesh and bone! He houses the Kyubi?" Kisame hissed.

"Yes. I took him from Leaf, because he'd be great- powerful under the right tutelage, but no one there will give it to him. He doesn't even know how to hold a kunai properly."

"Yes, he'd be great under the right tutelage, but he'd also be completely loyal to the one who taught him, wouldn't he?" Kisame insinuated slyly.

Itachi looked at him. "If you're going to leave, leave now. If not, never mention this to Naruto. He knows nothing about any of this and I intend to keep it that way."

That said, Itachi doused the light and turned over to close his eyes, feigning sleep. A short distance away, Itachi could hear Naruto mumbling softly in his sleep and Kisame…seemed to be shifting deeper into his bedroll.

Well it was decided then.

Two killers and an innocent traveling together…how ironic.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	3. Chakra

**Being and Belonging**

**Chakra**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

"**N**aruto, come here." Itachi called, "Stop bothering, Kisame."

Kisame looked over at Itachi's dim, fire-lit shadow. They had traveled the entire day in more or less amicability…well, at least neither were trying to kill the other. "He's not bothering me." he answered.

"Yes, he is." Itachi insisted, eyes traveling across their hastily made campsite. "And you're going to cut him by accident if he keeps swinging off your arm like that."

"Are you saying that I can't control a knife?" Kisame growled.

"Actually-"

"Whaddya want, Itachi ni-san?" Naruto piped up, skipping from Kisame to stand in front of him. "Is it special? Can I get something for you? Do you-"

"Naruto," Itachi interrupted, "Do you remember when yesterday night I told you that I'd give you another exercise do on top of your kunai exercises?" Itachi waited for an uncertain nod before he continued, "Good, sit down." When Naruto had finished scrambling for a piece of earth, Itachi handed him a wood splint. "This is usually used to start fires. You will channel your chakra through the wood and make it burn. Mind, I don't want the splint to spontaneously combust in your hand, instead only the tip should burn. I want a controlled flame. You have a month to do this, I expect it done in a week." Standing, Itachi pivoted and walked towards the other side of the fire, directly across from Kisame.

"But…but…" Naruto looked at the wood splint in his hands. "Itachi ni-san!" he wailed, "Aren't you going to show me how?"

"No."

"But-" Naruto tried.

"No." Itachi turned his attention towards Naruto for an instant. "Do this for fifteen minutes a day too." Then he turned back towards Kisame.

Unhappily, Naruto turned back towards the wood splint, frowning at it silently. He turned it over in his hands a few times as if that would give him an answer. He rapped it against his palm a few times, unaware of two pairs surreptitiously watching him. Then he threw it into the air a couple of times, starting to giggle happily before a warning growl from Itachi made him go back to looking at it tentatively. Finally he brought it up to his mouth and bit down on it, grimacing when the wooden taste hit his tongue; Itachi snorted quietly.

"That's not very fair." Kisame's whisper floated across to Itachi softly, unheard by Naruto.

Itachi examined the piece of wood that Kisame was carving. "Yes, it is. This is how he'll learn."

Kisame sneered at him. "Oh please. There are shinobi who can't do what you're asking the kid to do."

"I know, but he'll stare at it for a couple of days and then he'll finally ask you what charka is. Then after a couple more days, he'll ask you how to use chakra. You'll explain this too and soon by osmosis, if nothing else, he'll realize how to manipulate chakra. It might take years, but when he finally accomplishes it, everything else- tree climbing, walking on water, and hanging off cliffs…that'll all come easy to him."

Kisame's eyes widened. "So what, you're going to teach him everything this way? You'll be dead before he's strong enough to…to do anything!"

"Actually," Itachi disagreed, "he'll probably be thirteen or so."

"Thirteen?" Kisame asked incredulously, "You think that you can make _him_" -Kisame pointed at Naruto who was examining the wood splint as if it was an other world phenomenon-"a killer in just six years?"

Itachi sighed. "Naruto's a quick study. I showed him once how to hold that kunai and he deflected the next one that came flying at him. I plan to make him read."

"Read?"

"Read." Itachi repeated, "Even if have to threaten all kinds of hell, he's going to read and he's going to enjoy it."

"But…" Kisame paused, and then a look of understanding crossed his face. "You think that if he understands the theory of techniques, it'll make it easier for him to learn them."

Itachi nodded. "Naruto's a sensory person. He needs to understand a technique inside and out to try it and he learns by visual and auditory means. So making him learn from books, tempered with practice…" Itachi trailed off.

"Smart." Kisame finished, "Very interesting method of teaching, but…"

"That a sword, isn't it?" Itachi asked in the silence, nodding toward the crude half-finished wood in Kisame's hands.

"Well, that's why I'm here, aren't I?" Kisame smiled bitterly, "The master swordsman, me, is the one who's going to be teaching the kid to kill. Your books and techniques are alright, but it's my training that'll get him strong and keep him alive." Kisame's ironic tone turned serious, "I mean it, books aren't going to cut it. He has to be prepared for every situation otherwise those techniques that you're going to teach him won't help."

Itachi acquiesced his head. "That's your portion of the training. I'm not arrogant; I know that you've been in more fights that I have. You have more to teach him in that area. I take care of teaching him the techniques and you teach him how to use them."

"So I-"

"Itachi ni-san!" A yellow blur collided with Itachi and unconsciously, Itachi put a hand around Naruto's waist to stop the enthusiastic boy from bouncing off him and into the fire. "It's time to sleep!" Naruto chirped. "It's nighttime."

"I've noticed." Itachi said dryly, signaling to Kisame that they'd talk about this later. "Lay down and go to sleep."

"Kay." Immediately, Naruto snuggled down next to Itachi and yawning, closed his eyes peacefully.

"What are doing?" Itachi hissed, "Go to your bedroll."

Unconcernedly, Naruto snuggled deeper into Itachi's side. "But here I'm warm on both sides." Naruto whined, referring to the fire on his left and Itachi on his right. "And," Naruto worriedly opened one eye. "What if those bad guys come again? What if-"

Itachi sighed and doused the light.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We'll be going over those mountains today." Kisame pointed out, lifting Naruto's bedroll onto his back. "Can the squirt make it?"

"Of course he can." Itachi said carelessly, "If he doesn't then he gets left behind."

Naruto gasped. "No way you'd leave me behind, Itachi ni-san!" he shouted confidently.

"Just…don't annoy me today." Itachi answered, hefting up his bedroll and starting up the winding path.

Naruto wrinkled his nose at Itachi and looped his hand through Kisame's belt so that he could drag Naruto when he got tired. "Kisame-san," Naruto whispered, careful not to let Itachi overhear, "What's chakra?"

Kisame smirked. It hadn't taken nearly as long for Naruto to ask as Itachi had presumed. "Chakra is very important!" Kisame teased, "How can you not what it-"

"Be alert." Itachi suddenly said, "People are approaching."

Kisame tensed, and felt, rather than saw, Naruto put his nose into the air and breath in heavily. In was slightly disconcerting to see such an animalistic action on a human face, but when Naruto spoke, it was with absolute certainty. "Itachi ni-san is right. People are coming…from that direction." Naruto pointed his finger straight ahead.

"West." Kisame corrected automatically, "Up ahead is west."

"Oh, I-"

Abruptly, a small contingent of seven men stepped out of the shadows. Leading them was a tall pale man, his hand resting arrogantly on his hip. Itachi sized them up and hopped backwards lightly to land beside Kisame and give them a unifying presence.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked short and to the point, onyx eyes already bleeding into red.

"We're the Akatsuki." The pale man proclaimed, the men behind him readying their kunai.

Itachi just narrowed his eyes, but Kisame gulped and tightened his grip on his sword- a storm was coming.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	4. The Fire Jutsu

**Being and Belonging**

**The Fire Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. And I do have a question for my readers. The story can go down two paths right now: it can skip forward several years to the plotline, or it can continue with Naruto at this age, advancing slowly until we finally reach the main plotline. It's the readers' choice. Review and tell me which you prefer.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

"**T**he Akatsuki?" Itachi questioned, brow only portraying the slightest frown, "What business do you have with us?"

"I have no need for you or the man behind you." the man in charge proclaimed, "We're here for the brat. Our leader wants him."

Itachi's blood red eyes narrowed. "That's not an option."

The leader's face flashed into a quick snarl before smoothing out. Behind Kisame, Naruto shuffled his feet nervously and tightened his grip on Kisame's pants. "Kisame-san," he whispered, "What are the A-Ka-Tsu-Ki?" he asked, saying the name slowly as not to mispronounce it.

"People who have no right being here." Kisame answered defensively, lifting his voice so that it carried over to the seven fighters who were standing close by.

"All we want is the kid. We have no reason to fight with you two. Just give him up and leave and we'll do you no harm." the man said again.

"And I told you that it wasn't going to happen. Naruto isn't going anywhere with you." Itachi hissed as Kisame tensed his grip of his sword.

Then, as if on a hidden cue, three things happened so fast that Naruto could hardly comprehend them. The Akatsuki leader charged forward, Kisame drew his sword and Itachi leapt backwards, pushing Naruto back. As Naruto stumbled backwards to fall on his rump, the metal pole of the Akatsuki leader met Kisame's sword with a resounding clang. Wincing, Naruto covered his ears and blinked through the film of dust that had risen in the aftermath of the quick scuffle to see Kisame locked overhead, sword to pole, in a test of strength.

Both men pushed their weapons against each other in an effort to topple the other, but they seemed to be evenly matched. The other men crowded around the two fighters for an instant, but then turned their cold gaze back towards Naruto, or more specifically, at Itachi who was standing defensively in front of him. One of them started towards the two of them as Kisame started to slide backwards. Then, before Naruto could see the end of the impromptu match, Itachi swore softly and grabbing Naruto, plopped him into another tree. Then he swooped back down.

Naruto bit his lip and edged towards one of the tall tree's outer branches. The tree was taller then he was used to back home, but the solid bark of the branch gave him the courage to inch along one of the protruding branches. The tree shook a little as if unused to tree climbers, even one of small stature like Naruto. Gripping the tree nervously, Naruto leaned over the branch and peered through leafy branches in time to see Itachi enveloped by the six other members.

* * *

Itachi whirled out of the middle of the group and, eyes flashing, he bore down on the first of the fighters with a vengeance born half of anger and half of- and he absolutely hated to admit this –desperation. He leapt towards the fighter with two kunai, locking one with the fighter and sending the other, along several shuriken towards another fighter. He didn't check to see if his aim was true, instead drawing back his kunai and attacking with several quick strikes that left his assailant with long, thin, streaming, red cuts along some vulnerable spots of his body.

Diving in one last time, Itachi slashed his kunai against the man's throat, closing his eyes against the blood as it drenched his cloak and hair, and effectively blinded the other men whose eyes had been open when the blood had first started spattering. Taking ruthless advantage of the situation, Itachi drove another kunai deep into one man's chest and threw two other shuriken at another's with deadly accuracy.

The men fell with barely a sound.

The remaining three men backed up and began to circle him carefully. Itachi smirked inwardly. These men thought him young and mostly inexperienced. They thought they were fighting a boy, but he was a fox and would fight like one.

Clever. Deceptive. Victorious.

Itachi gathered his chakra and forced it into a ball. It was jittering and hissing, angry of being left unused for so long. The battle had awoken his bloodlust if nothing else. Standing still, Itachi crammed his chakra down one man's throat, forcing it past his convulsing throat muscles and into the lungs. He let it sit there peacefully until it was pumped into the heart.

There, Itachi let it _explode_.

The man's eyes widened and a trickle of blood dribbled down his chin. Then he, like all the others, dropped lifelessly to the ground. Laughing quietly, Itachi dropped the rest of the barriers on his chakra, allowing the two alive men feel his power. He grinned viciously; he knew what they felt- the unending well of power, the absence of limitations; it was the same thing he felt whenever he looked at Naruto.

"Give up." he rasped quietly. "Give up and your deaths will not be painful."

One of the men laughed. "Even if we die, this won't end. Did you really think that you travel with a monster like him without the help of a formidable ally or without assassins? If we don't kill you, then the next ones sent to do so will. Then they'll go after him."

"Give up." Itachi repeated gently, "Give up or I'll turn you over to Kisame when he's done." Itachi spared a look for Kisame and saw that the leader was cowering under the Samehada and…was that a whimper? "He doesn't appreciate attacks on people he likes. Considers it a personal affront."

The two men paled. They also must have noticed what Kisame had done to their leader. "There's someone more powerful than us coming." one of them tried, "He's…he's going to kill you. He'll kill both of you and then you don't want to know what he'll do to that kid of yours. He'll break him, I mean, there are so many things you can do with a pretty young boy like-"

The two men exploded as Itachi pushed pure chakra into their bodies. It didn't have finesse and it certainly wasn't nice and clean like he had promised them, but after the man had dared insinuate that someone would- to a boy Sasuke's age- to-

The leader in front of Kisame choked, interrupting Itachi's thoughts, and writhed on the ground as the Samehada neatly slit his throat. Itachi turned and nodded at Kisame, his chakra relaxing into a normal subdued striking position around his neck.

Of course, it leaped up again when he heard Naruto scream.

* * *

Naruto was scared.

He didn't like that- being scared. It sent a creepy crawly feeling down his spine to curl in the pit of his stomach. It made slivers of sweat sluice down the heaviness of his hair onto his neck, the prickling sensation making Naruto even more nervous.

As the fight below continued, Naruto started shaking and his breaths quickened. His death grip on the branch tightened even more and an odd heat began to build up in his body. Shuddering gasps tore through his body and he became distracted from the fight below by a red filmy haze that crept up the sides of his vision.

"No…no…no…" Naruto whispered quietly. He could almost feel the heat rising off him, hot tendrils sifting through his hair and melting off his clothes. The red- angry and hot –was covering his vision completely, but he could still envisage a glittering arc of the sword as it swung upwards and then fell downwards, slinging nearer and nearer towards Itachi's neck.

_The only person who had ever been nice to him._

"NO!"

And the heat building up inside him finally found a way to escape.

* * *

Itachi whipped his head around towards the tree where he had left Naruto and stepped backwards in shock.

The entire tree was on fire. Huge flames had erupted from the branch where Naruto had sat. They bloomed into the upper branches and alit the dry wood near the base of the tree. Naruto screamed again and Itachi realized that he must be in the center of the inferno…getting burned alive. Itachi ran towards the tree, ignoring Kisame's questioning shout.

Itachi jumped into the tree, landing more in fire than branch. Seeing Naruto- a small figure obscured by smoke and flames –he tackled the young boy out of the tree and landing on the, thankfully, grass and not fire, Itachi rolled Naruto along with him until all the flames coloring his clothing were put out.

Hurriedly, Itachi turned Naruto over and hissed under his breath. The small boy was covered with burns and lesions. His cloths were half melted and starting to stick to his skin. Even his bright blonde hair was burnt and…and…_he had no idea how to handle this_.

"Kisame!" Itachi yelled, his voice not the least bit hoarse- and no, he was not worried, but…

Suddenly, Kisame was at his side. Taking one look at Naruto, he swept the boy up in his arms and ran towards the river where they had camped last night. A little shell-shocked, Itachi got up to follow him and chanced a look behind him.

Kami, the fire was spreading.

By the time Itachi had caught up to Kisame, the shark-faced man had laid Naruto down in the river, carefully keeping his head above the waterline. As Itachi watched, Kisame peeled away the rest of Naruto's cloths, keeping a tight grip on the child when he convulsed from pain. Finally, Kisame had all the clothing off, letting the ruined rags float down the river.

_He was not upset._

Grimly, Kisame pulled Naruto out of the water and laid him on the ground. Wordlessly, Itachi handed Kisame his cloak, which was dipped into the water and then placed over Naruto's shivering form.

"He's cold. Why the hell is he cold?" Itachi asked suddenly.

"You've never dealt with the medical aspect of a ninja's work, have you?" Kisame muttered drily, "He's shivering because he's in shock. The problem is that we need to keep the burns moist until we can get him to a doctor."

"He'll be fine." Itachi answered frigidly, "He doesn't need a doctor."

"He needs a doctor. He'll die without one," Kisame stated, "and I can't let that happen."

"If he dies then he's weak. I won't have a weak pupil."

"And I won't let him die to fulfill some twisted fantasy of yours!" Kisame snarled and then leaped up, his shark teeth opening as if to intimidate Itachi into listening to him.

Itachi looked at him superiorly, his eyes still a blood red, his cloak still splattered with the drying blood of his enemies and whatever Kisame saw in that mess of human and monster and Kami knew what else made him sit back down, slump his shoulders almost imperceptibly and settle in for the long haul.

* * *

"Baka brat." Itachi muttered.

Kisame looked up from the fire at Itachi. It was the first thing the boy had spoken since their semi-argument more than five hours ago. Night had well since fallen and Naruto had stopped shivering a while ago. Kisame wondered if it was already too late to stop Naruto's slipping descent into a coma and then death. He face was patsy white in the light of the fire. In fact, it was completely at odds with the glowing hero-worship that had shown in his eyes last night.

"I asked him to light a match, not start a forest fire." Itachi continued stoically, his eyes reading deep into the fire.

Kisame looked at him heavily. The teenager seemed to be speaking to himself on a certain level. His eyes were still Sharingan red though Kisame had tersely told him hours ago that he could let the jutsu drop. He supposed that the bloodline jutsu was a comfort for the boy. He'd always be able to see things others couldn't and that gave him an aspect of control.

It was important to maintain an illusion of control when a situation was completely out of control.

Suddenly, the two men heard a rustle from the far bushes. Instantly they rose to their feet, moving to stand protectively in front of Naruto's still form. Kisame tensed. He wasn't sure whether they could handle another enemy. It wasn't a question of being unable to beat them back, but rather the crawling fact that Naruto was so weak, so _fragile_ that jostling him now could kill him.

Quiet laughter greeted Kisame and Itachi's battle-ready forms. "Please, if I were to attack, you wouldn't have heard my approach."

"What do you want?" Itachi asked.

Kisame blinked. He could almost see a visual representation of Itachi's chakra. It was straining to get out and rip, tear, and shred. The indistinct animal-like shape had its hackles raised and Kisame guessed that the faint hissing that was starting to permeate the air was the animal growling.

Kisame smirked; Uchiha wasn't as calm as he liked to pretend.

As Kisame focused on Itachi's chakra, a tall, slim, white-skinned man came out of the trees, his long black hair oozing off him like poison. "My name is Orochimaru," he stated pleasantly, "and I have a proposition for you."

Kisame sighed, looking down at Naruto. He already knew what this man was going to offer them: sanctuary and he already knew that they'd take it. Why? Because it was the only way that Naruto would last the night. And Uchiha Itachi, though he might be a bastard, cold-hearted and insane, if there was one thing that he wasn't, it was stupid.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	5. Healing

**Being and Belonging**

**Healing**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. And I do have an answer to the question I posed last time to my readers. I carefully considered everyone's ideas and suggestions, but I did have to make a decision in the end. I've decided not to skip several years ahead because I think that watching Naruto grow will help the plot and because, though I know some of you want me to get to the plot as soon as possible, you don't know the characters well enough, they haven't changed or grown, and as an author, doing so would feel like I was crapping out. I want everyone to see the characters expand and become two-dimensional like I picture them in my mind. When we get to the future, I don't want everyone wondering why they did this or that; you'll be to say: oh, he did it because…whatever it ends up being. So if you will, think of the first four chapters as an extremely long prologue, this next segment, which span at least ten chapters as a prequel, and the segment afterwards the actual story I'm working towards. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

**I**t was dark when Naruto finally woke up.

Dark and two weeks later. He had woken with a sharp, shuddering gasp as if reliving his trials in the forest all over again, jolting half upright before weakening and collapsing back on the gurney. Kisame was the first to reach him, lifting him slowly to rest against propped up pillows and whispering soft platitudes to the small child that would have made Itachi cut out his tongue before repeating.

They had arrived in the village- a small fishing town next to the sea –the same night Orochimaru had made his offer. In the end, it hadn't been so much as the promise of a safe haven to teach Naruto, as it had been his whitening face that had made Itachi accept the snake's offer.

It wasn't that he was worried for the brat, but the kid wasn't going to die without a kick to the ass for the bloody forest fire he started.

When they finally reached the village, Naruto's still form had been handed off to a young medical nin who came from Itachi's old village itself- Leaf. After assuring the two ninjas of his allegiance to Orochimaru, the young man, Kabuto, laid the boy on a small cot, examining his burnt body.

Then breathing deeply, he placed his hands over Naruto's heart and sent continuous pumps of chakra into it. The chakra, instead of sinking into his heart as Itachi had expected, tingled up and down his body. As the chakra touched each burned area, the flesh twisted and knitted together, rebuilding the three layers of Naruto's skin until the final layer closed it on itself, a milky paleness settling over Naruto's normally ruddy complexion.

"Itachi ni-chan?" A timid voice broke through Itachi's musings. "Are you alright?"

Itachi glanced over the young child staring hopefully at him on the bed. Even though his breathing was still erratic and his skin had a coolness to it that Itachi didn't expect, he seemed to be on the mend. "Fine." he grunted, turning and stalking from the room.

Itachi flung open the hospital room door and slammed it shut behind him as he fled- no, strode from the room. Walking down the rough wooden hallways, Itachi left the hospital, heading out into the rain. As the rain soaked through his clothing and his hair began to cling to his face, Itachi started across the muddy compound towards Orochimaru's office.

It was time to uphold the other part of the deal.

Itachi entered Orochimaru's office knocking, instead lounging on the doorway until the sallow faced man waved him in carelessly.

"I presume Naruto kun is doing better?" Orochimaru asked, looking up from a document.

"He woke up." Itachi answered.

"Really?" Itachi turned to see Kabuto leaning against the opposite wall. As Itachi watched, the young nin pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses and stood straight. "Then perhaps I should pay him a visit. Orochimaru sama, Uchiha." With two deferential nods, Kabuto exited the study.

"Itachi kun, why did you come here?" Orochimaru asked, drawing Itachi's attention away from the closing door and back towards him.

Itachi frowned, the facial change barely perceptible on his grim face. "You asked me come find you when Naruto felt better."

"Yes…I suppose I did."

Itachi shifted slightly, not liking nor understanding the look Orochimaru was giving him. "Well," he muttered, his hand slipping towards his shuriken, "what do you want?"

"Now, now, there's no need for that." Orochimaru said, gesturing to Itachi's hand, "Let's be pleasant." Itachi nodded even though the pale man's sibilant voice was making him itch with the need to hurt someone. "I've done you a favor. I saved the life of your little demon. Something I'm _sure_ you're grateful for. Now I want you and your partner to do a favor for me."

"What favor?" Itachi asked warily. Orochimaru could ask for anything from a retrieval mission to the brat himself.

"Let me start with a little history." Orochimaru put aside his papers and leaned forward, gesturing for Itachi to sit. He did so, sinking into a soft chair, body growing tenser with every passing minute.

"I, also, am originally from Leaf. But several disputes with the Hokage and other ninjas led me to leave the village. After traveling for many years, I decided to found a village of my own, but there is a reason that new villages aren't springing up all over the place. Ninjas either already belong to a village or aren't trustworthy enough to be in one. You will find that every ninja in this village is legally considered a missing nin. Each has their own reasons for being here, but I assure you that they are the best of the best."

Orochimaru smiled at him and Itachi felt himself being drawn stealthily into a serpent's trap. "Being part of this village has its advantages, you see. You get the protection of a village, but none of the limitations. That's why I think this place could be of use to you."

The chair creaked as Itachi shifted. "How"

"I will allow you, Kisame, and Naruto to remain here. Do whatever you please with the child. You can train him yourself or allow someone else to. He's of no interest to me yet. In return, you and Kisame will complete certain missions for me."

"I plan to train Naruto, not be apart of another village where my power is used by another." Itachi hissed.

"Think of it as honing your skills. You are young still. Surely there is much for you to learn among these skilled fighters." Orochimaru said.

"I doubt it." Itachi challenged, getting up. "I apologize Orochimaru san, but I do not think I can accept your off-"

Itachi was cut off as Orochimaru grabbed his collar and pulled him close. "I don't think you understand." he whispered, "You are going to stay here and work for me. Do not forget your place boy. You may be a genius in Leaf, but here you are small, very very small." Orochimaru leaned closer. "And I will take pleasure in killing you and the brat if you do one thing I dislike."

Itachi snarled, his own chakra rising in response to the hissing coil of chakra melting off Orochimaru. Then he calmed himself. It wouldn't do to start a fight here. That wasn't what ninjas did. Ninjas attacked with craftiness, strength, and wit. He would kill the man standing in front of him- he would unleash the full power of his Sharingan on this imbecile who dared insult his power, but he could wait. He could patiently wheel away his time, growing stronger, and smarter, courtesy due Orochimaru's missions. Then Itachi could pick the moment he wanted his man to die.

And then he'd laugh at the horror on his face as he witnessed Itachi's strongest attack.

Itachi smiled ferally. "With an offer like that how can I refuse?"

"Good." Orochimaru smiled back pleasantly, "Here is your first job." Orochimaru handed Itachi a sheaf of papers. "And when you leave Naruto will stay here…just to rid yourself of any temptation of taking the boy and running."

Itachi nodded and turned to leave, smirking inside. _Idiot man_. Did he really think that Itachi had formed an attachment to the brat to the point where he feared to leave him alone? To the point where he would rush to complete the mission just to return to the child? To the point that he'd cringe whenever a threat was tossed in his direction?

Ha.

If anything it would be a relief to get away from Naruto's whining, pathetic face for a while. A couple days without the brat would probably help him. If Orochimaru was going to play this angle then it's be even easier to get rid of him than Itachi had originally thought. Itachi had no problem with putting Naruto in a little danger to win a fight.

After all, Uchiha Itachi didn't form attachments.

section break

Naruto smiled half-heartedly trying not to wince as Kisame handed him a glass of water and helped him drink some. "Are you sure I didn't do anything to upset him?" Naruto asked again, letting water dribble down his shirt. "He seemed upset."

"He was worried about you." Kisame answered patiently, wiping his chin. "No one's upset."

"Oh." Naruto played with the hem of his hospital gown, stopping when what felt like fire lanced up his arms. "I…I didn't want to make him worry." His breath hitched suddenly and Naruto was ashamed to find himself with tears in his eyes. Ninjas don't cry, Naruto thought fiercely; if you wanna be a ninja, then act like one. "Sorry," he whispered.

"No one's blaming you kid," Kisame said gruffly, nudging his shoulder, "It happens to everyone once in a while. Everyone messes up with their chakra control." _Maybe not as spectacularly as you did, but…_ "That's why it's so important to learn how to control it."

Naruto gave him a watery smile. "You sound like Iruka sensei. Learn this, learn that. Learning is sooo boring."

Kisame grinned. "Now that I-"m

Suddenly the door swung open and a tall, white-haired boy entered smiling. "How's my favorite patient doing today?"

"You're my doctor?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yes. I'm Kabuto. I was the one who healed you last night," he answered

"Then why do I hurt?" Naruto blurted out as Kisame turned to him anxiously.

"How bad is the-"

"Pain is perfectly normal Kisame san, Naruto kun. I just restored three skin layers at once." Kabuto reassured.

"But even my hair hurts." Naruto complained.

Kabuto laughed. "Well I had to regrow your hair too."

Naruto shook his head and was amazed to find long bangs flopping past his eyes. "It's longer!" he exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Kabuto teased, "You look much cuter. The girls won't be able to keep their hands off you now."

Naruto blushed and started to respond when Itachi swung the door, finding Kisame, Naruto, and Kabuto inside the small room. Immediately he pursed his lips. "You need to cut your hair," he muttered.

"Itachi ni chan!" Naruto shouted, pain forgotten as he launched himself in Itachi's direction. "You're back!"

Itachi caught the boy around the waist before he could latch onto him and dumped Naruto haphazardly back onto the bed. "Here." Itachi placed a large book in Naruto's lap. "I want you to finish reading this by the time I get back."

Naruto frowned at the book in his lap and Kisame leaned over to the title. "Chakra Control Techniques?" he asked.

"Yes. Your last attempt was _abysmal_." Naruto's face fell sharply at Itachi's harsh words.

"Kay," Naruto answered, sounded subdued, "I'll try my- Wait, 'by the time I get back'? Where are you going?" Naruto asked, flinging the book aside.

Itachi ignored him and passed the sheaf of papers to Kisame. "Assassination. I'll explain on the way."

Kisame nodded and got up. He ruffled Naruto's hair and headed out the door. Itachi turned to follow him when Naruto leaped out of bed again, this time at his feet.

"No!" he cried out, wrapping his arms around Itachi's legs. "You can't just leave me here. Let me come with you. Please. PLEASE. I promise I won't be any trouble. I'll be quiet and I won't eat much and-"

"Naruto get off." Itachi commanded patiently.

"NO!"

Calmly, Itachi reached down and wrestled Naruto off handing him over to Kabuto. Almost immediately, Naruto began screeching, flailing and biting to get out of Kabuto's hands. Finally Kisame poked his head back inside, totally exasperated. "Naruto, we're coming back."

Naruto stopped screaming eyes wide with panic. "Pr- promise?"

Kisame nodded and looked to Itachi for confirmation. Itachi sighed and looked at the sniveling child. His face was a blotchy mess and he was shivering in Kabuto's arm. Great, now the stupid boy was going to get sick on top of everything else. Itachi sighed again.

"Yes, I promise."

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	6. The Mission

**Being and Belonging**

**The Mission**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

**"S**o Naruto," Kabuto started, "What would you like to do today?"

Naruto ignored the question, staring out the window. "When are Itachi ni-chan and Kisame san coming back?" he asked.

Kabuto sighed internally. "It'll be a while still Naruto."

"That's what you said last week…" Naruto said plaintively. "What if they're not coming back?" he asked worriedly.

"They're coming back Naruto, I promise you." Kabuto said patiently.

"But how can you-"

"Naruto!" Kabuto said a bit forcefully, "They're coming back. Now that's enough. Lets do something else today, something other than staring out the window. You don't have to stay in bed all day; we can go out."

"I don't wanna." Naruto said sulkily.

Kabuto clenched and unclenched his fingers. "Well, too bad." he muttered, grabbing a protesting Naruto. "Sometimes we all have to do things we don't like."

* * *

Itachi unrolled his bedroll, watching Kisame unfurl his own out of the corner of his eye. They had lit a fire earlier, but they were a little too close to sand country to keep it lit all night.

"Have you thought about our assignment?" Kisame asked, breaking the silence.

"Gaara of the Desert;" he recited, "age: 7; family: Temari, Kankurou, and the Kazekage; assassination attempts since age six: 5."

"Fuck! What the hell is wrong with this kid?" Kisame muttered.

"He was an experimental attempt to try and catch up with Leaf." Itachi answered.

"How so?"

"Leaf had there very own demon trapped in a body. Sand tried the same thing, only the boy's completely mental. He can't sleep because every time he does, the demon ravages his mind. The entire village's scared of him. The Kazekage's ninjas haven't been able to kill him, so he asked Orochimaru for a favor." Itachi said, hopping to a nearby tree to take the first watch.

"He wants to kill his own son?" Kisame asked, placing his pack next to his bedroll and lying down.

Itachi shrugged. "People are like that. You shouldn't be surprised."

Kisame's face hardened. "I'm not." he said shortly, rolling over in his bedspread to face the other direction.

Itachi too looked in the other direction, keeping an eye out discreetly for nighttime wanderers. This mission was to be done in absolute secret. Apparently, the Kazekage didn't want anyone in his village to know that he wanted his son dead.

"Itachi?" Kisame asked.

"What?" Itachi asked, a faint note of surprise in his voice; he had thought Kisame had gone to sleep minutes ago.

"Doesn't he remind you of Naruto?"

"Who?" Itachi deadpanned.

"The kid. Gaara." Kisame added.

"No."

"But-" Kisame started.

"Go to sleep Kisame."

Kisame frowned, but rolled over and closed his eyes, at least feigning sleep if not actually sleeping, while Itachi stared into the darkness and tried very hard to keep his mind off subjects that were not only stupid, but worthless too.

* * *

"Naruto? Naruto? Naruto, come out now. This isn't what I had in mind when I told you we were going to get some air." Kabuto called out, trying to frighten Naruto back into the clearing.

When they had finally gotten outside, Naruto had proposed playing hide-and-go seek. Then before Kabuto could object- he did have more important things he could be doing than watching some kid, as cute as he might be –Naruto ran off, darting into the woods.

"Naruto!" Kabuto yelled again, shaking a tree branch to see if the small boy was hiding in it.

Sighing, Kabuto bent down to examine the small, half smudged footprint in the ground. It looked like the boy had some ninja training after all. He had stuck to the grass in many places, left few footprints and had already misdirected Kabuto twice. Orochimaru sama had said that the child could be tricky when he put his mind to it and Kabuto had spent enough time observing his pranks back in the village to realize that he had some aptitude in stealth, but if the boy wasn't misleading him again, it looked like he was-

Kabuto turned away from the footprint and sprinted towards the main entrance of the village.

* * *

Kisame had just settled in for the last watch of the night when he saw a flash of hair in his peripheral vision. They had been closing in on the village, but so far, they hadn't seen any shinobi. Eyes narrowing, Kisame jumped silently out of his crouch on a tree branch. Slipping a kunai out of his pocket, he glanced at the resting Itachi before stalking towards the hair that was bobbing along the edge of the campsite.

Turning so that he came up from behind, Kisame grabbed the body by its blonde hair and swung it into the air, putting the kunai to its throat. Suddenly it yelped and yelled, "Kisame san!"

Kisame dropped the boy. "Naruto?" he asked.

"Yes! Yes! What were you doing to do?" Naruto asked wide-eyed.

Kisame shook his head and slipped the kunai into his pocket. "Nothing Naruto. I thought you were someone else."

"Oh, I-"

"Naruto!" Kabuto separated himself from the shadows and grabbed the boy by the arm. "You don't just run away like that. You weren't supposed to leave the village."

"He left the village and you were following him, but weren't able to catch up until now?" Kisame asked Kabuto incredulously.

Kabuto glared at the older man. "Orochimaru sama didn't let me leave the village until just a day ago. I was needed there and Orochimaru sama refused to believe that Naruto chan would actually make it all the way to sand country without turning back. He's had a four day lead on me."

"Now that you mention it," Naruto piped up, "I am kinda hungry." As if to emphasize his point, Naruto stomach grumbled. Loudly.

Kisame grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "Well come on, I'll get you something to eat."

Naruto smiled dazzlingly at him and snuggled into his pants. "I missed you so much." he said softly, "Where's Itachi ni-san?"

"Uh…" Kisame paused, "Naruto, maybe it would be better if we didn't wake Itachi until morn-"

"Too late." Itachi said, appearing behind Kabuto, his eyes glowing red and angry. "I'm already awake."

"Itachi ni-san!" Naruto shouted, causing Kabuto and Kisame to wince, "I've-"

"I don't care." Itachi hissed sharply. "What I do care about is why you're here endangering our mission by yelling as loudly as possible."

Naruto cringed and scuffed the ground with his toe. "But…" he started, "But I've been practicing." Naruto reached inside his small pack and pulled out the book Itachi had given him. "I read the first part of the book you gave me. I even know what I did wrong. I wasn't con- concentrating on releasing my chakra into…into, oh yeah, one spe- specific point. Instead, I-"

"Naruto." Itachi interrupted again. "Do you see my bedroll?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it's-"

"Go over there and read your book."

"Is that my new training?" Naruto asked, eyes shining hopefully.

Itachi silently pointed at the bedroll and waited until Naruto trotted dejectedly towards it until speaking. "Get him out of here." he snapped at Kabuto.

"Where are they going to go?" Kisame argued. "They should just stay with us until the mission's complete. It's safer."

"Oh yes, it's much safer to travel into enemy territory, than it is to stay at the village."

"I agree with Uchiha san. I would rather take Naruto back to the village with me." Kabuto concurred "I assure you that I'd take good care of him on the way back." he added.

"But it'll be almost impossible to avoid sand nin this close to the village. Naruto was lucky he didn't already meet some. I doubt he'll be that lucky next time, no matter who the escort." Kisame's voice left little to question in regards of what he thought of Naruto's escort.

"Kisame," Itachi started, "we-"

"It doesn't matter now." Kabuto broke in. "He's already asleep."

Itachi and Kisame looked over to where Kabuto was pointing. Naruto had curled up around Itachi's pillow and was snoring lightly.

"Fine." Itachi groused, "we'll just decide in the morning."

Walking over, Kisame leant Kabuto his bedroll as he leapt back into the tree to take the rest of the watch. Itachi, on the other hand, knelt over the sleeping Naruto and pried the book he was using as a pillow from the small boy's hands. Then he draped a blanket over the child who murmured quietly and proceeded to drool all over it.

Itachi rolled his eyes, which had receded back into a coal black and ran his hand through Naruto's thick blonde hair watching as the boy sleepily pushed back into hand like a cat. Itachi stroked his hair several more times listening to Naruto's barely perceptible mewls of happiness. Then the child momentarily turned into someone else and Itachi's hand stilled, but…no, Itachi blinked away black hair and a pale face, concentrating on Naruto's smaller stature and cat-like appearance. Relaxing again, Itachi let his questing fingering feel through Naruto's hair.

Finally satisfied, Itachi sat back and inspected his hand. He hadn't found any tracking or listening devices in the boy's hair. This didn't seem to be some sort of trick played by Orochimaru. The boy had actually made it here on his own. Naruto could travel through wilderness, foreign land, and rogue nins without a scratch, but he couldn't hold a kunai properly.

_Dunce._

Itachi picked up the book that he had dropped earlier and turned towards the fire, missing Naruto's frown and subtle shifting towards the lost warmth. Sitting at the fire, Itachi flipped open the book. Naruto had gotten about half way through it, but seemed to have only read a page today before falling asleep. Itachi was going to have to make that little slacker read at least sixty more tomorrow to make up.

Miles away, as Naruto slept peacefully; Kisame kept watch; Kabuto stared at the stars; and Itachi planned, a small red haired boy also slept, but someone was trying to creep up on him. Someone dangerous. Someone who was caught up in a storm of sand before he could even utter a despairing cry.

Someone whose blood seeped into the ground and mixed with the settling sand as he died.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	7. Gaara

**Being and Belonging**

**Gaara**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

* * *

"**N**aruto," Itachi admonished, "don't fidget. We're too close to the hidden village of Sand for you to make any unnecessary movements. A Sand nin could catch us."

"Sorry," Naruto sighed, looking up from his book, "but we've been sitting here for hours. When can we enter the city?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Don't ask stupid question…" Itachi paused and added, "and stop twitching!"

Kisame chuckled under his breath and drew Naruto into his lap ignoring Itachi fire like glare. "We're right outside the gates of the hidden village of sand hidden under Itachi's genjutsu. We're going to memorize the guard rotations and entering and goings of the village and then tomorrow we'll jump the fence and complete our mission."

"Oh. But why did Kabuto get to leave?" Naruto asked, lowering his voice to a mere murmur at Itachi's look.

"Kabuto's been here before so we sent him out to scout the perimeter. When he gets back he'll draw us a rough drawing of the village so we know where to attack. We're lucky you two caught up with us in the end. Otherwise, we'd be searching in the dark."

At the statement, Itachi snorted. "Lucky. We'll be lucky if you two don't get in the way."

Naruto's face fell, but he bravely tried to keep it put and cheerfully said, "But Itachi ni-san, Kabuto's really, really strong and I'll…I'll try my best to keep out of trouble, I promise."

"You hear that, Itachi, the kid's going to keep out of trouble." Kisame tried to share a secret smile with Itachi over Naruto's head but failed when Itachi turned away to search for Kabuto.

"You won't even get a chance to cause trouble." Itachi countered, "You and Kabuto will be waiting on the edge of the village for us to return."

"But…but Itachi ni-chan, I want to stay with you." Naruto pleaded.

"No," Itachi answered firmly, "It's too dangerous. You'll stay with Kabuto until we come out."

"But-"

"I think that Naruto and I will have to help." Kabuto said, stepping silently out of some nearby bushes. "I've been examining the area and to be able to get in, you of us will have to create a distraction at the front gate while the other two will need to sneak in through the back gate here." As he spoke, Kabuto drew a small sketch on the sand detailing the village and the two entrance points. "Then the team inside will complete the mission."

"It's rudimentary." Itachi said, observing the plan, "But only chuunin are on guard, right?"

"Yes. Naruto chan and I should be able to take care of them. Kisame san, Itachi san, I think you two should go through the back." Kabuto said.

"Why does Naruto have to be involved at all?" Kisame said frowning.

"Well, I think-"

"Naruto's not going to be of any help to you in creating the distraction." Itachi observed. "I'll take him with me and you and Kisame will create the distraction."

"You're not taking him into the city!" Kisame hissed, "You'll get him killed."

"No one is going to die unless they make a mistake." Itachi said, catching Naruto's eye and holding it pointingly as Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Naruto, I don't think you understand how dangerous this'll be." Kisame said, turning Naruto to face him. "If you're scared or frightened at all, then you have to say so now. No one's going to make you do anything."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Itachi and then turned back to Kisame: "But I want to do it, Kisame-san. I wanna help."

"Just stay out of the way." Itachi said again, "That'll be helping."

Naruto pouted. "But I promise that I can-"

"Kabuto, Kisame," Itachi interrupted, "Here's what I want you to do…"

* * *

A couple hours later, as moonlight lit up the cool desert and pale sand, Naruto and Itachi positioned themselves at the far southern corner of the village. "Naruto," Itachi said, "do you remember what to do?" 

"Yes," Naruto whispered, bouncing on his toes, "When you say go, we're going to hop the fence and then I'm going to follow you through the village until you say stop. Then I'm supposed to wait outside while you complete the mission and then follow you back right here." Naruto paused, tilting his head in thought. "Oh! And I'm not supposed to do anything stupid." he finished.

"Good enough." Itachi said, scanning the sky. Then he saw it, the signal. "Come on, follow me." he said, moving forward.

Itachi leapt over the fence, landing lightly in a crouch on the other side and waited for Naruto to follow. After a couple of minutes passing with Itachi twitching in annoyance, he finally leaped back over the fence to see Naruto clumsily trying to scale it with his kunai.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked him.

"Um…" Naruto looked at Itachi from his perch halfway up the fence and then hopped back down to land sheepishly on the ground. "They hadn't taught us to jump that high yet at the academy and so…I didn't know how…" Naruto trailed off looking at his feet.

Itachi made a low noise in the back of his throat. "And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because…you- you were so annoyed earlier and I wanted to show you that I could do it and that I wouldn't be a- a- what did you call it? Oh, yeah- a nuisance. I wanted to show you that I wasn't a nuisance." Naruto blurted out.

"Naruto," Itachi said harshly. "This is what makes you a nuisance. And why don't you know how to jump yet?" he continued. "Even- All of the trainees are supposed to able to jump at your level."

Naruto blushed, red creeping down his neck. "No one wanted to spend any time with me so I never learned." he whispered, "It was easier for them to focus on good students like Sakura or Sas-"

"Shut up." Itachi said suddenly, and then softer, noticing Naruto flinch: "It's not that you aren't a good student; people just don't like those who are different."

Naruto's face lit up at Itachi's words. "Different like you, Itachi ni-chan?"

"No different like-" Itachi paused, "Yes, different like me." Then quickly looking around, he said, "I'll teach you how to jump right now. You have to be fast though alright?"

"Yes Itachi ni-chan. I promise. I'll be the best at jumping. The best ever!" Naruto chirped, hopping up on one foot.

"Naruto," Itachi snapped, "What's the first rule in this mission again?"

Horrified Naruto covered his mouth; then, his voice muffled, he garbled out: "Not to talk."

Itachi nodded at him. "You've finished the book on chakra control, right?" At Naruto enthusiastic nod, Itachi continued, "Remember the part on focusing chakra?" Without waiting for a reply, Itachi explained quickly, "You can focus chakra to different parts of your body such as your hands or your feet. To jump the chakra needs to go to your feet. The first chakra focusing exercise in that book is to concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in and out until you can visualize your five chakra centers and their flows. Then you have to direct that towards your feet. You'll be able to tell when it works when you feel a slight tingling on the soles of your feet." Itachi looked at Naruto's slack form. "Well? Are you going to try or not?"

Naruto started and then quickly turned around and closing eyes, began breathing deeply in and out. As his breaths began steadying out, Itachi activated his Sharingan and watched as Naruto slowly molded the chakra flows in his own body. His chakra was normally a whitish color but soft sparks of red (the demon's chakra) flit in and out of his channels like molten electricity.

The red sparks were coming from the seal in his belly. It rumbled and twitched grumpily whenever Naruto pulled at his chakra to push it towards his feet. Itachi had a feeling that the Nine-Tails' Demon wanted its chakra to be used (after all, its chakra was only getting restless in there), but that Naruto himself was stopping himself from using it- such a recognizably evil influence was probably unconsciously blocked from ever reaching the surface by Naruto's good nature.

Naruto pushed more chakra down towards his feet – more than he needed, to tell the truth – but Itachi decided to let him keep going. It was nice to known that the kid had so much spare chakra.

Impressed in spite of himself, Itachi allowed himself a small smirk. The boy had natural talent for molding chakra. Someone just had to show him how to do it. Itachi had known that the fourth's son couldn't be a complete failure like his father had once commented; it just wasn't possible for one of the most powerful ninja's to ever live to sire a deadbeat. The fourth had to have seen something long ago in Naruto or he wouldn't have entrusted him with the demon seal.

Unfortunately for Leaf, no one had bothered to finds out how special Naruto could be.

Then, seeing another signal flash through the sky, Itachi impatiently turned towards Naruto – they had wasted far too much time – and saw that he was still pushing an inordinate amount of chakra towards his feet. Reaching out his own chakra, Itachi ignored Naruto's gasp and cut off most of the chakra, pushing a small amount towards his feet.

"Jump now." Itachi ordered.

Naruto turned to stare at him with wonder, his eyes bright. "You touched me with your chakra." he whispered happily.

"Go!" Itachi hissed.

Turning obediently, Naruto leaped over the fence, Itachi following quickly. After reaching the other side, Itachi silenced Naruto's opening mouth with another burst of chakra across his mouth and pulled at the boy to follow him with a third shot of chakra wrapping around his waist and dragging him forward until he was trotting behind Itachi obediently.

Walking through the streets, mindful of Naruto behind him, Itachi swept his gaze through the village. It was late and the village was deserted, most people safe in their beds or at least in their homes from what Itachi could see through the windows. They were walking through what seemed like a market place, and Itachi could imagine it filled with bustling people, chattering and bargaining over prices. The ninjas didn't live on this side of town, according to Kabuto, only the villagers, but Gaara, their target did. Why keep the chief's son hidden away in some small part of the village, Itachi didn't know, but then again, the man did want to kill the boy.

Finally, Itachi stopped in front of a large building. It looked old and rambling with dirt windows. Itachi's mouth twisted. His target was probably somewhere in the middle of all that and Itachi would have to find him. Hopefully the boy wasn't smart enough to mask his scent or chakra. Somehow, though, Itachi knew that he was.

"Naruto." Itachi whispered, drawing the boy to his side. "Go wait in the corner. I'll be back soon. And don't do anything. Just stay put." Itachi finished.

Naruto, grinning deliriously, nodded twice and moved over to an abandoned market stall that was still advertising its fresh fruit. "Be careful." he mouthed.

Itachi ignored him and jumped into through the first-floor window. He didn't know why, but he felt like something was going to go horribly wrong.

* * *

Kisame swung his Samehada towards another sand nin and watched in satisfaction as the teenaged boy fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from the stomach. Kisame turned away from him (he wouldn't survive the rest of the fight) and surveyed the scene. 

He and Kabuto had finally decided to set off a smoke bomb of sorts in the east wing of the village. After all the attention had been diverted there, Kabuto and he had sent out clones to invade the ninja parts of the village, carefully staying away from the civilian parts where Naruto and Itachi were supposed to be heading. Finally, they themselves had attacked the main entrance, wrecking as much havoc as they could using some explosive techniques that might not have been very deadly, but did cause a lot of damage.

Luckily, only chuunins were on guard for the most part and Kabuto and he were able to cause a lot of mayhem before more experienced fighters came on the field and realized that there weren't a lot of enemies- only one or two. It was then that the real fight began.

Kabuto and he had quickly developed a rather good tandem fighting style, but it was temporary at best and against the top sand nins, of whom neither had seen, but Kisame was sure that they were on their way, their combined technique wouldn't stand a chance. They'd be separated and though, they could probably take on at least a dozen at a time, soon they'd be overwhelmed.

Naruto and Itachi needed to get out and give them the signal to retreat and do it fast. One mistake and they'd end up end, but they couldn't pull back and leave Naruto and Itachi to fend for themselves. Kisame shuddered to think what these sand demons would do to sweet little Naruto if they found him. Look what they had done to the raccoon boy.

Suddenly, Kabuto hopped next to him, fielding a block to Kisame's left side. "I calculate that we can hold them off for another thirty minutes at the most, but we will be too tired to help Itachi sama and Naruto chan if we do that." Kisame grunted in agreement, swinging his Samehada. "So I suggest that in twenty minutes we barrel through here and get both of them out of there, mission completed or not."

Kisame eyed him. "A full frontal assault?" He shook his head. "Itachi can handle himself."

"Can Naruto?" Kabuto questioned, pushing against a sand nin, a medical needle landing in the man's chest.

"What do you want with Naruto?" Kisame hissed, thinking of turned his blade on Kabuto himself until he realized that doing so would be idiotic.

"What you want." Kabuto answered, "What everyone wants, but I also want to help you. He has vast amounts of uncontrollable chakra. And, well, with that much chakra, teaching him about control isn't going to be enough. He has to channel it into something strenuous enough that at the end of the day he's too tired to have an unexpected flare-up and blow up the compound." Kabuto paused as he assessed another surge of sand nin. "I could teach him medical skills, even chakra healing. That fact that he himself heals so fast could mean that the demon has a natural inclination for it. It might make it easier for him to learn."

Kisame's eyes narrowed. "And what's in it for you?" he asked.

Kabuto shrugged, wielding his needles carefully. "Something to do- someone to teach my skills to."

"And full demon powers at your beck and call." Kisame finished.

"He's a sweet kid." Kabuto defended himself, "He'd be a pleasure to teach."

"Yeah," Kisame muttered, driving the Samehada through an opponent. "He's one hell of a kid." _And he better still be alright._

**

* * *

**

Naruto skipped around the stall happily. "He touched me." he whispered, daring anyone to hear him as he grinned wildly. "He touched me." he said a little louder.

Of course Itachi had touched him before. But it was always for some reason or the other, like he was in danger or Itachi was trying to teach him something and needed to reposition his fingers or- or something. But he never just touched him.

And especially not with his chakra.

Naruto had seen it done before. Between family members mostly. Like ninjas who gave their sons or daughter soft pets down their back or on their head with their chakra when they were pleased with them or how parents soothed their children with a steady pulse of it when they were frightened. But no one had ever done it to Naruto; in fact most people's chakra became almost overbearing whenever people were around him.

Not Itachi's though. It was almost heady in its thrill and Itachi had acted like it didn't even matter. Did that mean that he hadn't minded doing it? That he was going to do it often? Naruto let a wide grin split his face again. He could do it as often as he wanted to. It felt safe with him – letting Itachi's chakra touch his own – as if his entire presence was surrounding Naruto, protecting him and in that one instant, Naruto felt invincible.

Naruto twirled around the stall again, grabbing a pole and twisting around it, basking in the sweet glow of the moon. He laughed happily, his giggles echoing through the air and heard a small sound it return. Immediately wary, Naruto stopped spinning and stood ramrod straight, his eyes straining to see where the sound had come from.

"Don't stop." A voice said from close by, making Naruto start in shock. "You looked happy." As Naruto watched, from behind the stall only two feet away, a part of the sandy wall detached itself and a small redheaded boy emerged from it, sand swirling behind him and entering a gourd behind his back. His lips pursed and the tattooed letter marring his face wrinkled along with his forehead as he thought. "I don't know what happy is, but if I had to name it I'd call it you."

Naruto gaped at the boy, backing up behind the pole. He spoke oddly, pronouncing each and every word as he hadn't talked to many people in his life and his face was unbelievably pale for one who had spent their life under sun. His face and light desert clothes contrasted sharply with the bags under his eyes, so dark that they might have been bruises. Naruto suddenly itched to touch them and make sure that they didn't hurt.

He looked lonely- no, he oozed loneliness.

"Don't be scared," The boy continued, his green eyes boring through Naruto, "I promise that I won't hurt you. Just laugh again." he paused, looking at Naruto quizzically when he didn't do so. "Please." he added uncertainly, his light wrap falling open and exposing ninja's clothing when he shrugged his shoulder experimentally.

Finally Naruto found his voice. He wasn't going to be scared of this boy. He wasn't taller than Naruto like most boys. He was just the same height and Itachi was counting on Naruto to be brave - he had touched him with his chakra – if that wasn't a sign then Naruto didn't know what it was. "Silly," he started, his voice barely a whisper, "You can't just laugh. You need a reason."

"A reason?" The boy said calmly, tilting his head. Then striding forward until his nose almost touched Naruto's, he said, "I am Gaara of the Desert and I want you to laugh. Is that not reason enough?"

Naruto shrunk back from Gaara's cold stare. "Um…you don't understand. Something has to make you want to laugh." Naruto tried to explain. "Like something funny, or beautiful, or happy, or like if you're with your favorite person in the whole world. Then all you want to do is laugh. Maybe you should find your favorite person. He'll laugh with you. Then it'll be a real laugh because you're happy."

Gaara's nose wrinkled. "Who's my favorite person?" he asked.

"I don't know." Naruto answered, confused. "Why would I know?"

"You seem to know a lot about happy…things." Gaara said thoughtfully. Then: "I don't think I have a favorite person. You'll be mine then, won't you?"

Naruto looked at him oddly. "I can't be you're favorite person. You don't know me. You don't even know my name!" he said, upset. "You shouldn't just say stuff like that. Your favorite person's serious stuff." Naruto pouted.

"What's your name?" Gaara asked patiently.

"Well, I-"

"What is it?" Gaara demanded.

"Naruto." Naruto said softly. "It's Naruto, but I can't be your favorite person. We don't know each other."

"But- but…" Gaara trailed off, thinking. "I'll make you laugh." he promised almost desperately.

Naruto smiled at him, stepping closer. "How?" he asked curiously.

In response, sheets of sand flew up around them, dousing the market with dust and turning the very air around them into silvery clouds as moonlight reflected off the sand. Naruto shrieked as the sand circled around him, but it was soon followed by a delighted laugh that filled the market.

* * *

Itachi ran up another flight of stairs, brushing the blood off his fingers. He had already killed five people, none of them Gaara. He just couldn't find the bloody kid. His suspicions from before were correct; he was masking his chakra which meant that Itachi would have to find him the old fashioned way. For a second Itachi wished Naruto was here- maybe he'd be able to smell the boy out, but no, Naruto would get all emotional when he found out what Itachi was going to Gaara. 

That emotionality would be the first thing that Itachi would have to change.

Suddenly, Itachi skidded to a halt. In the hallway in front of him were two children, maybe twelve and eleven. The older one, a girl, had blonde hair and was carrying a large fan. The other one was slightly shorter and had odd markings on his face. Itachi smirked. He knew who these two were.

"Temari and Kankuro." Itachi surmised. "Move out of my way. I'm not here for you. I-" Itachi paused. He could have sworn he had heard Naruto yell, but- shaking his head, Itachi continued, "I want your brother. I'm here for him. Move."

Both children shook their heads and readied themselves for a fight. His mind still on Naruto, Itachi frowned, but prepared to kill them.

No one was going to stand in his way.

* * *

"I want you to come with me." Gaara said imperiously. 

"I- I can't." Naruto said softly, backing away from Gaara's outstretched hand.

Gaara's face suddenly tightened and sand whipped up around Naruto causing him to cross his arms in front of his chest in slight fear (though he'd never admit it), but as quickly as the sand arrived, it disappeared. "But I-" Gaara seemed lost. "I could make you laugh again." he pleaded. "I want to see it." he added wistfully.

Naruto frowned, thinking back to what Itachi had said about not doing anything, but Naruto wanted to touch the bruises under Gaara's eyes and make them disappear. He wanted to stop the hurts flowing off the boy in streams. He wanted-

"Okay." Naruto said suddenly grasping Gaara's hand.

Sand surged up around them, but this time Naruto wasn't afraid of it. It twinkled around him like before, spraying both of them breezily and gently led him away from the market place with Gaara quietly following, head tilted as he listened to Naruto's childlike laughter.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	8. Rising Tension

**Being and Belonging**

**Rising Pressure**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one. And on another note, a lot of people have asked about the pairings. I originally planned for this to be a gen fic, but I realized that if I was going to be telling the story of Naruto's life, it'd be a little odd if he and the rest of the characters had no love interests whatsoever. So right now I'm just going to go with the flow. I have time before I need to decide anything concrete and I'll probably write whatever feels right- slash (because seriously have you read the manga?) or het (because that's probably going to be what's canon). Anyway, I'm open to all suggestions that you all may have in regards to pairings. However, I probably won't take cross-generation pairings like ItaNaru or KisNaru. I have nothing against it. In fact I think that ItaNaru is a fun pairing, but it won't suit the purposes of this particular fic. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and send in pairing choices. Maybe you'll spark some ideas.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

**N**aruto followed Gaara past his building towards an old park. It was deserted now, the moonlight hitting a stray cat as it padded along on top of a sand rusted swing set until Naruto and Gaara's approaching footsteps scared it away.

"Is this where you play?" Naruto asked Gaara softly, shivering at the ghost-like atmosphere and impulsively reaching out to grab Gaara's hand.

Gaara stared bemusedly at the small tanned hand in his grasp and answered, "This is where I watch the other children play."

"Ohhh…" Naruto let the sound roll off his tongue as he looked at the strange boy next to him. He was so- "So, um, do you want to play with me?" Naruto asked timidly.

Gaara shrugged, his green eyes boring intensely into Naruto's until he drifted over to the swing set, resting a hand reverently on it. Touching the worn metal with fascination, he turned back to Naruto, only to say, "The cat's behind you."

Naruto jumped as he felt soft fur brush the backs of his unclothed legs. Then laughing, he turned and picked up the gray and black spotted cat and rubbed its fur against his face. The cat purred lowly, its heavy body relaxing in Naruto's grip.

"Do you want to touch it?" Naruto asked Gaara, holding the cat out towards him.

Gaara shook his head and darted behind one of the poles of the swing set. "No. It's-"

"What?" asked Naruto, "What's wrong with him?"

"It's not real." Gaara replied. "Nothing's real. Nothing except me."

Naruto laughed again. "That's silly. I'm real. I know I'm real."

"How do you know that?"

Naruto hesitated. "The same way you know you're real. I feel real, I guess."

Gaara frowned but reached forward and slowly placed a hand on the cat, sand wavering unsteadily behind him as if unsure of whether to strike or not. Then suddenly the cat's back bristled and he hissed, spine arching. Before Naruto could jerk him away, the cat swiped his paw at Gaara and red flew through the air, its arrival almost simultaneous with the sudden influx of sand that wrapped itself around both Naruto and the cat.

The sand squeezed Naruto's thin body, snaking around him before discerning that his futile struggles were of no threat and tossing him to the dirt-packed ground with a whipping motion. Instead it focused its deadly tendrils on the frightened and writhing cat it had in its grasp.

"No!" Naruto shouted, leaping up from where the sand had thrown him when he saw that his cat – because it was already considered to be Naruto's cat; he was keeping it no matter what Itachi ni-chan said – was in trouble. "Please stop. You're hurting it." Naruto jumped forward and thrust his hand through the thread of sand that was crushing his cat.

It dissipated on contact.

"I thought-" Gaara started, frowning at Naruto but willing the sand back in its gourd – it was almost hissing angrily; it didn't want to go – it wanted to _kill_. "He did something to me." The auburn-haired boy complained, holding out his hand, small tendrils of sand looping around his ankles as if trying to comfort him. "It feels…odd. Why didn't you let me kill him?" he asked, his tone almost a whine.

Naruto looked at Gaara's outstretched hand and frowned. There were three diagonal cuts laced across the back of his hand, but they weren't very deep. Naruto took a step forward, ignoring his cat's warning hiss. He had taken refuge between Naruto's legs and seemed reluctant to move any time soon. Reaching forward, Naruto took Gaara's hurt hand in his own and gently lowering the boy to the ground until both were sitting cross-legged on the ground, he said:

"Don't worry. I can fix this." Then he added, almost scoldingly, "You didn't have to hurt my cat. He's smaller than you. You're supposed to take of people smaller than you. That's what Iruka-sensei says…and that's what Itachi ni-chan thinks too, I think, 'cause he's always taking care of me even when I'm a lot of trouble."

As he talked, Naruto took a spare scrap of cloth from his belt and pressed it to Gaara's wound, ignoring the ball of fear that tightened in his stomach when Gaara winced in pain and his sand rose up behind him threateningly. He wouldn't be scared of this boy. He wasn't any older than him and he was nice. He had offered to play with Naruto and who had ever done that?

As he worked – carefully and thoroughly because even if Gaara scary he was still his friend and even at Naruto's young age, he understood how important that was – the sand bleeding through Gaara's gourd settled around him, sifting through his hair curiously; patting down his threadbare clothes; and poking through pockets to find his one special kunai. Examining it for a moment the sand put the kunai back in Naruto's pocket and continued its search, ignoring Naruto's startled yelp when it sniffed up his nose. Pursing his lips, Naruto tried to ignore it; it was like Iruka said, don't pay attention to bullies and they'll leave you alone. Finally, the sand decided to settle between Naruto's legs, burying his ankles in the soft fluff.

"Look," Naruto said, lifting up the cloth and unintentionally making the sand start up in a striking position before it calmed. "It's stopped bleeding."

Gaara looked at his hand and carefully poked at the flakes of dried blood. "What is this?" he asked, holding a tiny piece of the dried blood on the tip of his finger.

Naruto wrinkled his nose in confusion. "It's your blood, silly. It's what comes out of you when someone hurts you."

"Hurt…" Gaara said the word slowly as if tasting it. Then: "Do people do this hurt often?"

"Well," Naruto thought over his answer, "I guess. Some people get hurts a lot while others like my ni-chan are really, really strong. He never gets hurts." Naruto said the last bit proudly, puffing up his chest a bit. The sand hissed angrily beneath him. Then he tied the cloth over Gaara's hand neatly. "There, all better. I learned to do that at the academy. Is it okay?"

Gaara flexed his hand slowly. The odd feeling centering in his hand was almost gone. "Yes, it's fine."

Naruto smiled at him and then added, "I almost forgot. There's one more thing that you have to do. You have to take your hurt back to your mommy. She's got to kiss it better. That's the special ingredient, otherwise it won't heal fast."

Gaara frowned. "I don't have one. She's…dead." he said dully, looking at his hand, the ache suddenly coming back.

"Oh," Naruto thought it over for a bit and then reached forward, grabbed Gaara's hand and kissed it lightly himself. "I don't have a mommy either." Naruto confessed. "But maybe my kiss will help anyway."

Gaara stared at him for a long while, until Naruto started to shift and fidget uncomfortably when suddenly Gaara smiled, the expression awkward and little used on his young face. But this time when he reached forward to pet the cat, who was peeking at Gaara from behind Naruto's back and warily keeping an eye on the sand, he wasn't hurt.

* * *

Kabuto calmly assessed the situation. They were behind schedule. Way behind. He, Kisame, Itachi and Naruto were already supposed to be on their way home by now. But neither Itachi nor Naruto had turned up and it was getting harder to keep their enemies at bay. Already Kabuto had several injuries, only one severe enough to hinder him, but with all the enemies that they were fighting, it was enough to put him in a difficult spot or two.

Kisame was faring a little better. With his huge sword, he could slice through two or three opponents in one sudden move. Kabuto actually admired the beauty, no the artistry of it. It was almost like dancing, only the end came in a spray of blood and gore.

How elegant.

However, the Samehada was not only lethal, it was heavy and though Kabuto could see no physical signs, he was trained as a doctor to be able to notice when a man grew tired; when his arms wavered just the slightest bit; when his eyes closed for a millisecond too long. Those were the things that killed a man. And Kisame was starting to tire.

The time they had allotted themselves before charging in to at the very least, pick up Naruto had run out minutes ago, but both were waiting for the other to signal their charge forward. Dodging a particularly nasty swipe with a kunai from an enemy, Kabuto snarled under his breath and ran forward, jumping high over the heads of his opponents and into the village itself. Behind him, Kisame engaged the enemies in a genjutsu, a specialized one that must have originated from Mist because Kabuto had never heard of it. Soon Kisame joined him inside the village, near the entrance. A little ways behind them, they could hear the men fighting each other, turned against their brethren by Kisame's genjutsu.

"It won't last long." Kisame said, answering Kabuto's unspoken question. Hefting the sword over his shoulder, he began to walk deeper into the village. "We better hurry."

Kabuto followed him closely, making sure both stuck to the shadows and were not caught by other patrolling sand nin. Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto thought, rolling his eyes to the sky, you better damned well appreciate this.

* * *

Itachi looked around the hallway. He hadn't killed the two children. They were the Kazekage's after all and even if he did want his youngest dead, he probably wouldn't take kindly to having all three heirs killed in one night.

Stepping over their prone bodies, Itachi opened the door leading to his target's room, kunai in hand. The kid had already killed a number of assassins and Itachi didn't plan on leaving anything to chance. A quick kill and then back to Naruto, Itachi thought grimly. He'd have to take the kid back to the Akatsuki headquarters. He was still too weak to be traveling and the threat posed by Orochimaru hadn't yet been taken care of. There were dangers ahead if Itachi wasn't careful; if he got attached; if-

Itachi swore softly when he saw that the room was empty. The dark place was sparse; a simple bed and dresser were all that adorned the room. No toys or games anywhere to be found. As Itachi methodically searched the room to make sure that Gaara wasn't hidden anywhere, he noted that Naruto would have hated the room. With nothing to capture his attention, he would have ran away the second he could.

Striding over to the open window, Itachi peered outside, making sure that he kept to the shadows. Directly beneath him he could see an imprint in the sand as if someone had jumped down. Itachi smirked lowly; it was going to be a chase.

Leaping out the window, Itachi landed near the soft imprint and started following the footprints it left behind. Frowning, Itachi picked up his pace. The footprints were heading towards Naruto. They were not supposed to meet. Flat out running, Itachi halted at the spot where he had left Naruto only to find it empty. Not bothering to call out the boy's name, Itachi crouched down and studied the ground below him.

"Two boys, most likely the target and Naruto. Heading west. No sign of struggled at all. Dammit Naruto, did you just prance off with him?" Itachi kicked at the marks, scrubbing them out completely so that no one could follow him and started west, following Naruto's footprints.

Running forward, Itachi caught sight of the rusted playground, sand-swept and decrepit, before he saw the two boys. They were sitting cross-legged, facing each other near the swings. Naruto was holding a large cat in his arms and talking animatedly while the target had a rather stoic look on his face as if he was just barely putting up with Naruto's chattering.

Itachi knew the feeling.

Taking out kunai, Itachi threw two at the target and raced forward to defuse the situation – namely, to get Naruto out of the potential battleground. Unfortunately, Gaara's sand was quicker than he expected, both shielding Gaara and sweeping Naruto off the ground and into the air by his ankle in one deft move.

Gaara turned towards Itachi form, looking murderous. Itachi had stopped a couple feet away, noticing that the closer he got to Naruto, the tighter the ring of sand around his thin ankle got. Right now the sand was slithering down his upside down body, encasing legs, torso, arms, and even mouth and nose until he was wrapped so tight Itachi could see tears in his eyes from the pain.

"Let him go." Itachi said calmly.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…


	9. The End

**Being and Belonging**

**The End**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

**A/N: **This is my first Naruto story and I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get. Thanks for all the comments and feedback; I appreciate every one. By the way due to all the reviews asking about it, I figure I ought to mention this now, but I'm not planning on having GaaraNaruto. I apologize to everyone who wanted that, but take heart in the fact that I'm never going to completely close the door on any pairing. Just because it's not viable now, doesn't mean that I won't change my mind. I'll explain why the pairing won't work in the next chapter if it isn't obvious by then.

**Summary: **When Itachi leaves town on the eve of his parents' murder, he doesn't go alone. Can Naruto handle what comes next? _"Ano sa…Ano sa, where are we going?"_

**H**is cat was hissing.

Naruto must have lost consciousness for a couple of minutes after the sand had scooped him up and started to squeeze around his body, because suddenly, Itachi ni-chan was there and Gaara was glaring at him and his cat was hissing, spine arched and fur on end. Naruto's head swam with the sudden change.

Naruto tried to tell someone that Gaara and Itachi ni-chan really shouldn't be looking at each other like _that _– they were scaring his cat; and that someone really ought to let him down. There was sand up his pants!

Unfortunately, no one seemed to be looking in Naruto's direction. The street was deserted and Itachi ni-chan and Gaara were still doing that staring thingy. Besides, the stupid sand wouldn't let Naruto yell. Every time he tried opening his mouth, sand snuck its way inside. Naruto's jaws were aching with the effort the sand was expending on his mouth and the sand was just barely porous enough for Naruto to breathe through.

Just. Barely.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Gaara glared at the man in front of him. He wasn't very big – actually, he was shorter than most assassins sent after him, but he had scary blood-red eyes (like the color of my hair, Gaara realized) and he looked absolutely murderous.

"Let him go." The assassin repeated, his calm demeanor breaking only the slightest bit.

Gaara glared at him and stepped in front of Naruto. He was trying to protect Naruto. Couldn't anyone see that? He was trying to protect his friend from the mean assassin. His sand was helping him. Then after he had killed the red eyed demon, Naruto would like him even more and he'd want to stay and play with him forever.

"No. You can't have him." Gaara said arms angry and silent by his side. He called to his sand feeling it tickle through his hair and swarm around him. Silently he ordered it to tighten around Naruto even more to keep him safe from wandering kunai.

The man's upper lip curled and his eyes darted from Naruto's drooping eyes to Gaara angry green ones. "You're hurting him." The assassin commented offhandedly, "He can't breathe."

Gaara whipped his head around – that wasn't true! He wouldn't hurt his friend. – but then he noticed the straining tendons in Naruto's grasping neck and the growing whiteness creeping up from underneath his plain shirt. With a gasp and sharp cry, Gaara let – no, made the sand unravel from around Naruto's prone form. Naruto collapsed to the dirt and the sand poked at his still form regretfully, pushing at his thin still shoulder in a conciliatory manner.

Forgetting the assassin in front of him, Gaara darted back towards Naruto, rolling the small boy over. He wasn't moving. Gaara looked frantically to left and right, his sand waving around him in a frenzy. Fighting back a sob – he didn't cry – Gaara shook Naruto harshly, trying to make him open his eyes. Instead, Naruto's head lolled back and forth, his tan skin too pale to be normal.

"He's not breathing!" Gaara cried out shrilly, noticing a lack of the telltale lift of Naruto's chest.

Instantly, the assassin was next to him, his hand reaching towards Naruto.

"NO!" shrieked Gaara, "NO! NO! NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" With a whip like motion, Gaara's sand raised up and struck out at the assassin. The assassin dodged the thin, but deadly stake of sand and landed a good ten feet away, crouching.

Gaara stood up, towering over his friend's body. "Don't touch him." he repeated manically. "Don't – don't…"

With a choked off sob, Gaara knelt back next to Naruto and hugged him awkwardly, sand hovering around them anxiously. The assassin chose that moment to act, darting towards Gaara ferociously. Gaara snarled and sent darts of sand towards him, his green eyes vehement. The assassin dodged them all and reaching Gaara, knocked him aside with an almost careless smack of his hand.

Gaara rolled away, half in shock and half in anger. No one had ever hit him before. He bounced back towards his feet, eyes clouding over as he saw the assassin kneeling over Naruto and prepared to attack him again. Running forward, Gaara suddenly stopped as he saw the assassin gently lilt Naruto's head back and open his mouth. He was touching Naruto so kindly. So caringly. Like Naruto would break if handled wrong. No one had ever acted like that with Gaara before. The assassin quickly ran a finger through Naruto's mouth and grimaced when his finger came back gritty with sand.

Was…was he helping?

"There's sand in his trachea." The assassin said sharply, pulling Gaara back into the situation. "Call it out."

Gaara hesitated; should he do what this man said?

"Call it out now!" The assassin hissed commandingly and almost reflexively, Gaara obeyed, calling out the sand to come out of Naruto's clogged breathing tube and back into his gourd.

It was horrible.

The sand had forced its way down, down deep into his lungs and his trachea had tightened around the clumps of sand, bruised and swollen. It was impossible to remove every grain of sand from all the crevices the sand had found. It had, without Gaara's knowing, effectively smothering Naruto alive. The sand had crept into his lungs, finding his bronchial tubes and surrounding the alveoli. Gaara wailed softly as he pulled the sand out, watching Naruto's still form jerk and twitch as sand was forced up his swollen trachea.

As the last of the sand left Naruto's body, the assassin immediately felt for the boy's heart and then with a dissatisfied look on his face, tore open Naruto's shirt and placing his hands on the sternum, began delivering short, decisive thrusts to Naruto's heart. His sternum broke with an audible crack on the third pump – Gaara chose this point to lean over and empty his stomach, but the assassin continued, giving twelve more compressions before turning to Naruto's mouth and breathing in twice.

As the assassin continued the cycle of compressions and breaths, Gaara watched with a detached sort of fascination. His friend was dying – no, he was dead. But Naruto had said that he was real, and real people didn't die; only the others did. Not real people, not him and Naruto. Suddenly, Gaara was struck with a horrified realization that if Naruto could die then so could he. And if it was possible, then maybe he _should_ die.

Everyone hated him and he had just killed the one person who didn't seem to. Gaara pulled out a kunai from his pocket and stared at its gleaming surface. He could see himself in it, but it was a distorted version, his head and eyes monstrous and the love tattoo on his forehead more prominent than ever before.

Monster.

Gaara held the blade over the soft blue vein in his left arm and struck down. A centimeter before he would have hit his malleable flesh, sand solidified around the area and stopped the blade.

Dully, he tried again.

And again.

* * *

Itachi breathed deeply into Naruto's mouth, forcing air into his still lungs. Tilting his eyes to the left, he watched Naruto's chest compulsorily rise and fall. Frowning, he raised his head and began compressing Naruto's chest again. Swearing under his breath, he looked at Naruto's still face – his lips were _fucking_ blue and the demon boy would _die_ for this. Even if Naruto survived, the demon would die for making Itachi feel like this (what this was, he refused to acknowledge) - and turned to breathe into Naruto's lungs again when the boy suddenly choked and sucked in air on his own.

Itachi sat back as Naruto burst into sudden tears and clutched at Itachi's clothes weakly, burying his head into Itachi's lap. Awkwardly, Itachi patted him on the back, trying to make him stop sobbing. His voice was hoarse and hurt from the sand and the great gasping breaths he was taking weren't helping. Soon Naruto's tears tapered off as Itachi continued to rub his back, running fingers over the soft ridges of his vertebra calmingly. Itachi gathered Naruto into his arms and lifted him up, holding him with one arm and stealthily fingering a kunai in his pocket with the other.

As he stood, Itachi glanced over at the demon. He was staring at Naruto who had buried his head in the crook of Itachi neck with fascination.

"Is…is he dead?" The red-haired devil questioned.

Itachi glanced at the boy clinging to him again as if to confirm that he was still breathing. "No." he answered shortly. He didn't add the second part: _but you will be._

The demon drew a deep shuddering breath. "Oh," he whispered, "I-" he cut himself off and stared distractedly at the kunai now in his left hand and then again at his right wrist.

Itachi eyed the boy carefully. "I can help if you want." Itachi said carefully.

The demon boy looked up at him, confused.

"It's easier if someone helps you. And why wouldn't you want to die?" Itachi ignored Naruto's sudden shocked clench around his neck. There was a white hot rage filling his entire body; it felt like he was on fire. He could barely see straight. Without thinking, he let Naruto slip down and stand next to him, wobbling on his tired legs. "Everything you touch dies. You can't even try to protect a little boy without almost killing him. That's all you're good for anyway. Murder. You almost-"

"NO!" the flame haired monster shrieked. "I didn't. I didn't! I didn't mean to!" he screamed. Frantically, he turned towards Naruto, the barest hints of unshed tears shining in his eyes. "I didn't mean to. Please…please." he half sobbed out, stepping towards Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened and he shied away from him. As the demon reached out to touch the blonde haired boy, Itachi stepped in front of him protectively. "Don't touch him." he threatened, forgetting himself in the heat of the moment.

"I…I-" the boy staggered to the ground. "I didn't mean to." he whispered, soft tears escaping his eyes.

Itachi snorted and stepped forward and grabbed the demon's thick red hair – the color of blood - roughly pulling it back to expose his neck. Behind him, Itachi could hear Naruto's breathing quicken and become panicky. Chancing a glance back, he saw that the young boy had closed his eyes, cowering and was quickly moving his lips. Frowning, Itachi studied the movement of his lips and read: _no, no, please Itachi ni-san, no_.

Thinning his lips, Itachi ignored him. He'd deal with the boy later. Turning back to the demon, Itachi placed the kunai at the vulnerable edge of his neck and was about to draw it across the demon's neck when-

"NO!" Naruto screamed his voice still hoarse and coming out raspy and cracked in a way that actually made Itachi wince. Naruto leapt forward and slammed himself against Gaara, pushing both boys away from Itachi.

Tears leaking from his face, Naruto turned to face Itachi. "Please don't hurt him." Naruto whispered.

Itachi's arm lowered in shock. He couldn't believe that Naruto was defending this…this monster. The brat had almost killed him. "Naruto," he ordered coldly, "Get out of the way." Itachi lifted the kunai again, pointing it at Gaara.

To his surprise, Naruto disobeyed him, instead stepping in front of Gaara and the kunai. "No." Naruto insisted, "You can't hurt." he pleaded, looking surprised at his own audacity.

Itachi hissed angrily, his red eyes seeming to flash in the moonlight. Naruto flinched back into Gaara. "Naruto, I will only tell you once more. Come. Here." Itachi paused to let the message sink in and then added calmly. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

Naruto's blue eyes widened. He had obviously never thought that Itachi would lay a hand on him no matter what happened, Itachi realized with satisfaction. Naruto seemingly curled in on himself, but he didn't move.

"I…I thought you said that you'd protect me." Naruto whispered, his voice wavering. "I thought-" _you loved me_

"I am trying to protect you." Itachi said idly, sure that Naruto was in the palm of his hand. "He's dangerous. A monster."

"That's not true!" Naruto said lowly, his voice aching with every word. "Stop being so mean to him. He hasn't done anything."

"He tried to kill you!" Itachi hissed angrily. He couldn't believe that Naruto had chosen this particular moment to grow a spine. He was supposed to listen to him. _Always_.

"It was a mistake." Naruto wailed, noticing that the demon was shrinking with every word. "He's my friend. We-"

"That's enough Naruto." Itachi said cutting him off in a deadly voice. "You are to come over here by the count of three. One." Naruto dug in his heels, looking obstinate. "Two." Itachi looked at the boy; he didn't look at all like he was crumbling. "Thr-"

Before he finished the last number, Itachi threw his kunai at Naruto with deadly speed. The kunai clipped Naruto's cheek, cutting it cleanly and the young boy shrieked with fear and abrupt pain. Behind him, the demon hissed and his sand threw itself at Itachi. Itachi, using the sudden confusion to his advantage, darted forward and scooped Naruto over his shoulder, pulling out another kunai as he did so and holding it roughly to the red haired boy's neck.

The devil boy froze, his sand meekly stopping his assault as he stood still and fearful. Itachi threw Naruto to the ground were he lay winded for a few moments before scrambling out of the dirt to his feet, fearfully touching the sharp cut right below his eye.

"Three things Naruto." Itachi snarled, the tip of his kunai digging lightly into Gaara's skin. One, you never disobey me. If you ever do so again, there will be severe punishments. Two, if you ever stand against me, I will kill you. Immediately. And three, _never_ test me. Do you understand that?" Naruto nodded silently, face oddly dry as if all tears had been stripped from him. "Good boy." Itachi turned away from Naruto and dug the tip of the kunai deeper into the demon's neck. He was going to go slow. Slow enough that the demon boy would feel every cut and every gush of blood. And he'd make Naruto. Yes, that would be the perfect punishment for him. He'd-

"I _hate_ you!" Naruto suddenly burst out and ran at him with the kunai that Itachi had once given him. Stricken, Itachi barely was able to grab the young ninja's arm and twist it out of the way so that the kunai ended up in his arm and Naruto once again ended up in the dirt. Rolling over in the dirt, he turned to glare at Itachi defiantly. At least, as much as Naruto could glare.

"What?" Itachi asked, his voice sounding far away and distant. He felt a rushing sound in his ears and had to struggle to keep himself from walking towards the boy, grabbing him by his blue shirt and turning the kunai on him.

"I- I hate you." Naruto said again, his voice only losing the slightest bit of his former venom.

Itachi stared at him. He had never heard those words from him and truthfully never expected to. The plan was, after all, to make the boy love him wholly and unconditionally. So why didn't he? Itachi had made Naruto completely dependent on him. He had been kind to the boy. He had taken care of him after the fire. Why didn't the boy like him? Why- why was he looking at him just like Sasuke had after-

Suddenly Naruto drew a deep gasping breath and burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" he blubbered, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I love you. You're my most favorite person ever Itachi ni-chan, but…but…why are trying to hurt Gaara? I love you so-"

Breaking off, Naruto launched himself at Itachi and slightly bemused, Itachi caught him and hugged the small boy back distractedly. Staring at Naruto mop of hair deep in thought, Itachi made up his mind: _screw it_.

"Naruto, Naruto," he murmured, "Shhh. I'm not going to hurt…Gaara." Slowly, Itachi rocked the boy back and forth. "I need you calm down now, alright? I promise I won't hurt him. I just…" Itachi thought quickly, trying to come up with a suitable explanation that would salvage the trust Naruto had in him. "I was angry because I thought he'd killed you. I…wasn't thinking."

Naruto lifted his watery eyes to meet Itachi's and he smiled beautifully before leaning forward and kissing Itachi lightly on the cheek. Itachi froze as an intense crawly feeling climbed his spine. "I love Itachi ni-chan." Naruto whispered shyly before wiggling down to go hug Gaara happily.

Itachi watched the two children absentmindedly and did _not _reach up to touch the spot which Naruto had chastely kissed. It was better this way, Itachi convinced himself, Naruto would have forever hated him if he had killed Gaara in front of him. That was why he hadn't wanted to off the brat in front of Naruto in the first place. Naruto's disdain wasn't worth completing the mission, Itachi decided. After all, he was training Naruto to be completely loyal to him. That had to come first. Then Itachi could slowly bring Naruto about to his ideals.

However, something had to be done about the demon boy. Kisame and Kabuto must have been wondering where he and Naruto were, but Itachi couldn't just leave him here; Orochimaru would know that Itachi hadn't completed the mission and would take or kill Naruto. Something that Itachi didn't have the means to stop. Not yet, anyway. Itachi would have to secret the boy away somewhere. Perhaps his siblings would help; they seemed fond of him.

Then everything went to hell.

Naruto who had been standing with his back to Itachi, but his front to Gaara suddenly yelled out: "Kisame!"

Itachi turned towards Kisame, about to yell out a warning, when Kisame lunged forward, his Samehada slicing through Gaara's lower torso in one swift movement. Gaara choked, blood bubbling up his throat and fell forward onto Naruto.

Naruto's scream pierced the still night air.

**T**o **B**e **C**ontinued…

**A/N 2**: You know, for about ten minutes there, I really wanted Itachi to kill Naruto in front of Gaara and then leave. Then the story would follow Gaara as he grew up to avenge Naruto…but then I shook it off and realized that my readers might very well kill me if I did so. Anyway, thanks for reading and please excuse any mistakes; I wanted to get the chapter out as soon as possible.


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